8 Sets of Jazz Blues Changes | by Randy Johnston

Randy Johnston takes you through 8 sets of Jazz Blues Changes and more in this class.

One set at a time, he clearly demonstrates the changes and voicings, then plays a chorus with the chords at a medium tempo. Then Randy plays a solo adhering to these changes, while you can comp if you like, and then he comps for a chorus so you can solo to these changes.

The changes and voicings for each set are written out including block diagrams. In addition, he explains other variations and substitutions, as well as some example lines he is playing over the changes.

While this class is mostly on the changes, the topics related to soloing that Randy touches on include voice leading and tetrachords. Most of Randy’s solos are in eighth-notes at a medium tempo with a very good view of the fingerboard and his finger placement. While they are not transcribed, they are easy to see and transcribe if you like, or just to hear examples and/or get ideas when it comes your turn to solo.

Running time: 1 hour

6 Pages of PDF material included.

Class Content

8 Sets of Jazz Blues Changes

8 Sets of Jazz Blues Changes

01:00:00

Course Reviews

5

Very Practical!

5

This course is a great way to spend an hour with Randy, virtually! It’s pretty much what the description says with Randy going through 8 different Jazz Blues changes from bebop to Coltrane along with tritone subs and a lot of the classic jazz sounds we’ve heard on records. The changes are notated but the solos and lines are not transcribed so that’s up to us to transcribe if we hear something cool. Randy delivers the course in a friendly manner with clear theory explanations when needed too.

If you feel like you’ve been repeating the same subs during your jazz blues solos, check out this video for some ideas to spice things up. To learn, you can just play along with Randy (many times on the same changes if you’d like) to internalise the sounds and time feel too. I’ve gone through it once so far and can see myself repeating it to get more out of it. Thanks Randy!